


Circle

by buttsonthebeach



Series: Jaal x Sara [5]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Anniversary, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Post-Game(s), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 13:23:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11358372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buttsonthebeach/pseuds/buttsonthebeach
Summary: “Sara always found it kind of funny how much stock people put in the concept of a year. Wasn’t it, after all, just another circle around the sun?”Or, Sara surprises Jaal on their one year anniversary, gets in over her head, and then looks forward to the future.





	Circle

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place post-game and therefore contains some spoilers. It also isn’t too necessary to read the other fics in the series, though they do provide a little clarity about the progress of Sara and Jaal’s relationship and my random headcanons about angaran sexuality and anatomy. Enjoy :D

Sara always found it kind of funny how much stock people put in the concept of a year. Wasn’t it, after all, just another circle around the sun? Why was that something to make such a fuss about?

And once they started gallivanting around in space, wasn’t it an even stranger concept? The length of a year changed from place to place. Yes, yes, they standardized it, but still. Why the fascination with marking the passing of a year? Maybe she didn’t get it because she spent so much time in her life looking forward rather than backwards. She never had many occasions she enjoyed marking, except the birthday she shared with Scott.

This year was different.

It had been a year since many things happened, and Sara found herself ticking them off as they passed. A year since Habitat-7. A year since the first vault. Since Prodromos. Since landing on Aya.

Since meeting Jaal.

And then it was a year since a hundred other small events. Hovering around the tech lab asking questions, hoping more than anything that they could just be friends. Rescuing the Moshae. Tracking Akksul. Her heart stopping at the sight of a bullet grazing Jaal’s cheek. And soon it would be time for another anniversary: a year since meeting his family. And a year since she’d agreed that they should be together, her heart fluttering like she was sixteen again. It was an anniversary she couldn’t let pass this time, a circle around a foreign star that deserved marking.

So much had happened in that year. For the first time, Sara found herself wanting to look back, and to celebrate how far they’d come. Sara had never gone in much for the big romantic gestures before, but if there was one thing she knew Jaal would appreciate, it was a big silly romantic anniversary surprise.

So she made plans. She purchased the paripo early enough to make sure it would be ripe and kept it hidden away in Vetra’s room on the Tempest (several boxes of dextro-friendly cereal traded hands to ensure its secrecy). She carefully arranged her obligations so they’d be able to land on Aya on the day of, and then made reservations at a restaurant in a part of the city they’d recently opened to Milky Way visitors. Of course, that was when she found out that angaran dining was distinctly “family style,” and making a reservation for only two was rather… confusing.

“It will be a very large table. And a good deal of food,” the concerned, helpful angara on the other end of the line kept telling her.

“Well - uh - let’s keep the reservation for right now and I’ll - figure out who else can come.”

Shit.

She knew she should go with the flow and just invite their crew. It wouldn’t be an anniversary celebration if she didn’t embrace Jaal’s culture, right? And their relationship was about as far from a secret as it could get, with Jaal’s penchant for surprise, bone-crushing hugs at the APEX station, and mind-wiping kisses when they passed each other in the hall. And, you know, twirling her around on a live vid feed in front of the entire galaxy (goddammit, she loved having that video, and rewatched it whenever she needed reminding why they were doing this, but now Scott called her Twirls, and Keri T’Vessa kept trying to get them to sit down for an exclusive mini-doc about their relationship).

But asking everyone to come celebrate their relationship? It felt - self-centered. Jaal would probably say that it was hardly self-centered to rejoice with the community that supported their relationship, but even once she accepted that, the idea took on a different shade. A more serious shade. Humans only celebrated the community that built a relationship at one kind of party, and boy was she not quite ready to cross _that_ bridge. That white dress, forever bridge.

...but she could see it in the distance.

The nearish distance?

Fuck.

She cancelled the restaurant reservation and instead wrote to Sahuna, asking if there was a special paste she might be able to make Jaal for a surprise dinner she was planning. Sahuna, of course, replied with four different recipes, her weekly request for them to come ‘home’ to Havarl, and her monthly inquiry as to whether or not Sara was tracking the latest scientific papers studying the potential for human-angaran genetic compatibility.

 

_They’re investigating the malleability of the angaran genetic code now that scientists have had access to the experimental angara on Khi Tsira. Fascinating stuff, you know. Even if the Jardaan never specifically intended for angara to mate with other species, there’s a chance we could manipulate our own genetics, with the information we have now on their experiments. Perhaps, like the asari, we will grow stronger by blending with others. Food for thought, my favorite daughter - but I know you have so much else on your plate, as you say. Hopefully one of the pastes I sent you the recipe for will be on your plate soon. I really do think you might like the second recipe - we put some of it into that pie crust you told us about and it was - interesting._

 

_Stay strong and clear,_

_Sahuna, one of your mothers_

 

She should do something nice for Sahuna, too. It had been a year, after all, since she gained a mother. Sahuna was always careful to say that she was _one_ of Sara’s mothers, though she didn’t know about Ellen Ryder’s long, unexpected journey to Andromeda, and still believed her dead. It still mattered that she knew better than to see herself as a replacement for Sara or for Scott (who was also adopted shortly after waking, to his surprise). It mattered even more that her adoption of Sara seemed to have almost nothing to do with her relationship with Jaal. She suspected that she and Jaal could break up tomorrow, and a week later Sahuna would be pestering Sara via email for proof that she was both eating and sleeping well.

Not that she and Jaal were going to break up.

But if they weren’t - there was that bridge again. Something old, something new…

 _Your relationship with Jaal_ **_has_ ** _changed over the last year_ , SAM said as the thoughts circled her mind. _It reminds me more of how your father felt for your mother, now. It has been gratifying - and educational - to witness the change._

“You think so, SAM?” She replied, grateful they were alone at her computer terminal.

_I can show you a graph of the changes in your hormone balance and in your endocrine system, if you wish proof._

“I’m good, thanks.”

...but then she spent all day thinking about the idea. Even SAM noticed the difference. Hell, he said it was like _Mom and Dad_ different. Didn’t that mean something? But what did it mean? Because when she thought about being down on one knee in front of Jaal, or him down on one knee in front of her, her pulse increased, and SAM kept asking what was wrong and wondering if she needed to see Lexi…

Anniversary first. Everything else… later.

*

So, no restaurant, but Sara did manage to wheedle Efvra into granting them exclusive access to the waterfall where Jaal had taken her to confess his love. She won him over mainly by promising that she wouldn’t insist on delivering her reports of kett activity in person for a whole month. It did mean she would miss out on a whole month’s worth of opportunities to experiment with just how gravelly she could make the scarred angara’s voice get as she annoyed him - but beggars can’t be choosers.

Access granted, she just had to figure out where she could find a table, and chairs, and coolers to keep their food fresh until they arrived, which was easy enough. Then, the day they arrived on Aya, she had only to slip away and set things up while Jaal busied himself with some errands she devised for him. Then a quick jaunt back to the Tempest to freshen up, making sure to wash her hair with the fantastic new shampoo he’d made her so she could leave it loose and wavy around her face, just the way she liked, and then a quick jaunt back to the waterfall. Once she was ready, she sent him a message with her omnitool, and settled down to wait, buzzing with anticipation, though she had no electric field of her own.

Jaal was puzzled when he appeared, eyes wider than usual and his lips parted slightly. So open, as always, with all he was feeling.

“What is all this?” he asked.

“A surprise, obviously,” she said, walking to him and taking both his hands.

“Well, yes - but why?”

“It’s been a year since you asked me to be your taoshay,” she said. “And I wanted to celebrate.”

A wide smile broke out across his face and for a moment Sara forgot everything but the sight of it. Lingering kett and Roekaar? Missing Quarian ark? The eight late reports she owed Tann? Fuck all of it. She was going to do whatever it took to keep that smile.

“I have read of this human custom of anniversaries. We do not much celebrate them in angaran culture - at least not until we have officially joined each other’s families or had children, and then they are family parties, not individual celebrations. But Liam told me I would be forced to live in a small house intended for dogs or adhi if I did not remember ours. But then one day he said not to worry about it, that you weren’t the sort for such gestures…” Jaal trailed off thoughtfully, and she could see his tinkerer’s mind begin piecing things together.

“I may have paid him for his silence,” Sara said, grinning. “He’s probably on his ratty couch right now enjoying his Kadaran bootleg liquor and the old vids I tracked down for him. I wanted this to be about you, Jaal. You do so much for me already, every day. For everyone. Hell, I don’t think you realize what a morale booster the shampoo alone is.”

Jaal said nothing, instead cupping her face in his hands and giving her a long, deep kiss.

“Thank you, my dearest,” he said. “I am honored to share this custom with you.”

Sahuna was right - Jaal did love all four pastes she prepared equally (although she was wrong about recipe #2 being appealing to humans - it was still too gritty and bland for Sara’s tastebuds, and she still preferred the ravioli she’d managed to procure for herself at great expense). He also loved the particular brand of tavum she’d purchased at Sahuna’s suggestion, and the paripo was the perfect dessert, juicy and ripe and easily cut into small chunks that they could feed each other as they sat on a blanket by the pool, listening to the music of the waterfall and watching the sun fade from the sky.

“So what comes after dinner in a human anniversary?” Jaal asked when the last slice of the fruit was gone.

“Gifts,” she said, pulling out the small package she’d hidden away behind the cooler she used for her food. This was the thing she was most proud of, an idea she’d come up with all on her own, although Avela Kjar had been of great help executing it (she couldn’t forget to drop off her thank you note before they left Aya the next morning). Jaal fastidiously peeled away the wrapping paper and folded it beside him - and then stared in wonder.

“An ancient star chart? Like the one we found on Elaaden?” He asked, slowly turning it over in his hands.

“Sort of,” Sara said, curling close against his side. “It’s not a real relic, obviously. I had it made here on Aya. It’s - it’s the stars that were in the sky above your family home on the night you asked me to be yours. I want to remember those stars forever. And it has hooks on the back so we can put it up in our room on the Tempest, and maybe, eventually…”

Of course there was the rush of anxiety that came with being so vulnerable. Was it too sentimental a gift? Too presumptuous to mention the idea of a more permanent home than her quarters, which they shared now? Jaal was so quiet…

“Darling one,” he said softly, tracing the patterns on the map. “I have never received such a gift.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“I don’t mean this,” he said, setting the map aside gently and taking her face in his hands again. “I mean you.”

It was like a line from one of Liam’s vids - but she knew he meant it, from the look in his eyes to the gentle rhythm of his current running down her spine, making her close her eyes and relax into his touch.

“I cannot believe it has been a year. Surely it has been less - and more. It is a confusing feeling,” he admitted, pressing his lips to her forehead, and then her nose, and then each cheek.

“I know what you mean,” she said. And it must have been the damn tavum warming her toes, or the scent of Jaal so closer to her, or the whisper soft kiss he placed on her ear, that tricked her into saying what she said next. “A year is long enough for some human couples to start talking about engagement, you know.”

She barely had time to panic before Jaal pulled back and cocked his head as well as he was able.

“Is that not what we are? Engaged to be married?”

Oh, shit.

Now there was time for panic.

_Shit shit shit shit -_

How did she miss this -

Did she want this?

She wanted this -

But right now?

_Shit shit shit -_

Wait. He was laughing.

“Dammit, Jaal!” She’d scrambled away from him in her panic, and now she had enough space to swipe ineffectively at his shoulder, barely catching him with her fingers.

“Sara Ryder,” he said, still laughing. “If you were engaged to an angara - if you were engaged to _me_ \- you would most definitely know.”

She swiped at him again. “I hate you.”

He caught her wrist. “No. You don't.”

“Well, right now I do.” Yup, that was definitely hate she was feeling. Right?

“No, you don’t.” He was moving closer to her on the blanket, slow and graceful like a predator.

“How would you know?”

He sat up on his knees so that he loomed over her, and then leaned forward, so that she had to lean back against the blanket, and it should have been intimidating, all that muscle and bulk above her, but instead it made her pulse speed up for an entirely different reason.

“Because if I asked you right now if you wanted me inside of you, you would say yes,” he said.

 _Shit_ , that voice.

“So?” She tried for confident, but what came out was breathy. “Hate sex is a thing.”

“I don't doubt it, even if I have not experienced it. But it is not what I would have right now, with you.”

“And what would you have instead?”

“My temptress beneath me, coming apart as she tells me how much she loves me.”

It probably said something about Sara as a person that she was still feeling peevish about his little joke, unsettled by the huge tide of emotions it filled her with, and all the ways she was still processing them ( _holy shit, I just admitted to myself that I would be okay with it if he thought we were engaged doesn't that mean we basically are because I bet he’d be happy too but fuck what if he wouldn't be should I just say something?_ ). It probably also said something about her that her first coherent thought in response to his proposal was _make me_.

It _definitely_ said something about her when she said it out loud.

“Make you?” Jaal asked, sounding out the words slowly.

“Yeah,” Sara said, heart pounding. “Make me. Make me come apart. Make me say how much I love you.”

The energy between them shifted. Quite literally. Jaal’s bioelectric field was snapping nervously around him. She touched his face with her free hand.

“This - is not a game I have played before with a lover,” he admitted. “But - if it is something you want -”

“I don't want anything you don't want,” she rushed to clarify. He shook his head and leaned in closer.

“Darling one - I _want._ But I also want to be sure…”

“That nothing goes too far. I’ll tell you, Jaal. I’ll say - Tempest. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Sara could already feel the heat rising in her, the quiver of arousal low in her belly. She hardened her expression into a challenge again. “So - make me.”

Jaal’s expression didn’t change at first. Then his current changed and he pressed it against her skin in waves of intensity that she recognized. He was just as excited as she was.

“Kiss me,” he said.

Part of her sort of wanted to resist him on that. The other part really, really didn’t. Which was how she ended up clinging to the back of his neck, digging her fingers into sensitive ridges just to hear him moan against her mouth as his tongue flicked along hers in a pattern that had her already twisting her hips, looking for friction. Of course, he didn’t grant it. She was lying back on the blanket now, but he was keeping every part of his body and his electrical field away from hers except for where their lips were joined. When he drew away, it was only to nuzzle against her ear.

“Tell me all the ways you love me, darling one,” he said.

“No.”

He gathered her wrists in one huge hand and slowly pinned them above her head.

“Tell me,” he said, sliding his hand underneath her shirt and pushing it up, carefully avoiding contact with her skin.

“No,” she said, lifting her chin in defiance.

“Then I will tell you all the ways I love you,” he said, sliding the shirt higher, higher, and then knotting it around itself when it reached her wrists. It wasn’t the world’s most effective pair of handcuffs, but it still sent a ripple of arousal through Sara that made her skin prickle.

He sat back and smoothed both his hands down her torso, humming appreciatively in that low, alien register that made her rub her thighs together in anticipation. “I love your skin. So unbearably soft. I love the way it changes texture when I touch you. I love that I can _see_ your anticipation.” He stroked all the places that were prickling with goosebumps, and then went up further, to the thin, lacy black bra she’d worn underneath her shirt. “Especially here,” he said, and a snap of electricity went to each nipple.

“Shit,” she swore, biting her lip before more could escape.

“And I love your mouth,” Jaal said, one finger tracing her lips. “I have heard you use every curse you know, and I have heard you speak of peace, and I have heard you comfort those who are hurt - but do you know what I like best?”

She shook her head, pretending not to know the answer. He leaned down.

“I like it best when your lips are parted around my name, when you’re panting and groaning and _mine_.”

The hand she hadn’t been tracking slid down between her legs and pressed down hard over her aching sex. She groaned and rubbed against him, sparks of pleasure bursting every time her clit pressed against him, even through the layers of clothing, but he only allowed it for so long before he pulled his hand away and worked at the fastenings on her pants. She lifted her hips to help him ease them down, but he only pulled them partway down her thighs, restricting her movement, and he left her matching underwear in place. He ghosted one finger over the silky black cloth, tracing the triangular shape over and over until she was mesmerized, and restlessly squirming, and wondering just how easily she could get out of the t-shirt binding her wrists and _make him touch her where she wanted_ -

“I love your mind,” Jaal said, drawing her back. “I love watching how it works. I love that not long ago you were filled with so many thoughts and feelings you couldn’t process them all at once - so you turned to this - to me - to bring you stillness. And now look at you…” He grinned, and the finger that traced the edges of her underwear instead ran straight down it, straight over her mound, straight towards - “All you can think about is one finger.”

The finger stopped, a heartbeat away from where she wanted it.

“Jaal,” she keened, drawing out the vowels in his name, rocking her hips, trying to jolt him into moving.

“Do you still hate me, darling one?” He asked, grinning.

“Yes, actually,” she said, trying to frown as well as she could, still rocking her hips. “I’m -”

“Wet? Throbbing? I know.” The finger shifted lower, between her legs now, just the slightest pressure on the folds still tucked away under the thin, silky material, just the slightest pressure on the place that already ached to be filled. “I love this part of you too. So delicate, so lovely. So _sensitive._ ”

And now, _finally_ , the barest pressure on her clit, and he let her rock against the finger again, and she was so swollen already that even that made her whimper and clench inside. The weakest electric current flowed from him and teased against the tender bud and _fuck_ she could feel how wet she was from how cool the night air felt against her underwear and whose idea was it to let him tease her like this again?

“And we haven’t even gotten to the taste yet,” he rumbled, and shifted lower, pulling her pants with him, until he was just breathing over her sex, and then his tongue snaked out for one long, slow lick over the underwear, and then lower, to her labia, the underwear so tiny there she could feel his tongue touch her flesh and rub and rub and rub and her clit throbbed, unattended, and she could barely breathe -

Jaal sat back on his heels, and waited.

Well, this was how Sara Ryder died. Of anticipation on a beach on Aya. Efvra was going to have a field day. So was Tann. Maybe they’d both just die of shock and anger. Jaal was going to take out three people without ever laying a finger on them.

“Jaal,” she said, more quietly now, once she saw how the look on his face had changed. Less cat that ate the canary, and more gentle. Awed.

“And I love your heart,” he said, resting his hand on her chest. “Because of how it loves mine.”

Suddenly, Sara couldn’t remember what she’d ever been worried about.

“Jaal,” she said for the third time, and she couldn’t get anything else out around the combination of raw feeling and arousal that only he ever brought out in her. She hoped he heard what she was trying to say with the way she said his name. _I love you, I love you, I love you._

“Surrender?” he asked, settling on his side next to her, the glint back in his eyes.

“Yes,” she said, more a breath than a word, and his hand slid down her chest over her stomach and under her underwear and his thumb was on her clit and his finger slid straight inside her and she was _home_.

“Jaal,” she said as he started to move. “Jaal, Jaal, Jaal, Jaal -”

“My Sara,” he crooned, moving faster, harder now, she wasn’t sure if she was hearing the lapping of the water behind them or just the sound of his finger fucking her. She was already so keyed up - and yes, so in love, so, so in love - it wasn’t going to take long - the pad of his thumb rubbed circles around her clit and she could feel every circle wind her cunt tighter and tighter around his finger, she writhed and panted and gripped his forearm and she was right there, right there, there, there, just one more circle, one more pump of his fingers - and she was lost, crying out with each wave, each rhythmic pulse inside her, beating in perfect time with the current rolling off of him, with the pounding of her heart.

Eventually she was aware of something other than his hand between her legs. She was aware of the soft blanket. The warmth of him pressed against her, still fully clothed. The pleased hum rumbling out of his chest. The absolute, total joy radiating out of her chest.

“I love you,” she whispered, throat unstuck at last, as he removed the shirt from around her wrists, and pushed her pants completely away.

“I almost made you wait to peak because you hadn’t said it,” he said, chuckling. “But I saw it in your eyes.”

“I do,” she said, running her hands over his shoulders, so happy now to be able to touch him. “So much.”

“So much that sometimes it is frightening?”

“...yeah.”

“I understand. I know sometimes it is hard to say such things. And what an enjoyable way to help,” he said, raising the hand that had been inside her and making a show of licking it off.

“Your turn,” she said, her hands already pushing aside his casual clothes and seeking the skin beneath it, tracing hollows and muscles she knew well now, until she reached his pants and he helped kick them away. She was unsurprised to find his stomach already a little slick with come - it wasn’t unusual for the sight of her coming to get him off a little too, a small peak, one that barely took the edge off; he was probably still very close to a real orgasm - and he was already so hard when her hand found his cock, already making gutted sounds just at the pressure she placed on it.

“I love you,” she said as he rutted against her, his current pulsing heavily around them as he grew closer and closer. And then again, because she didn’t have his way with words: “I love you.” He rutted harder, gasped, she gripped him tight, feeling the thin skin surrounding his cock slide in her grasp, rubbing against the sensitive flesh beneath. “I love you so much, taoshay.”

He came with a loud groan, his cock pulsing twice in her hand and then slowing down to a steady twitch, still eager. So she rolled onto her back and pulled him with her and he slid into her as deep as he could go, sighing, and ground himself against her until they were both gasping. Then he pulled back.

“No. Like before. Come into the water with me.”

It was and wasn’t like the last time they were there. The moss was still soft on her back. The light was still dappled by the waterfall. He was still looking down at her with wonder in his eyes. She still gasped and groaned and finally came with a long cry against his lips and tongue. He still kept his eyes on hers when he slid into her again. But this time there was an ease - a knowledge - a familiarity as they rocked together. No half-starts and stops. No fear at the sudden closeness of it all. Just them, sliding, moving, sighing, tangled together, until Jaal came again, and the surge of his electricity and the way he rutted into her with each wave of his own climax brought her with him, whimpering.

“Again?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Again.”

*

Sara had to admit - making love by the waterfall was pretty damn convenient as far as clean-up went. No awkward hustle to the shower, or ruining towels in her room.

“Have I mentioned lately that I love the multiple orgasm thing?” She said, even as she dealt with the - aftermath. “Do you have any idea why you evolved that way? Or, well, I guess - why the Jardaan created you that way?”

Jaal shrugged, and she watched the bunch and flex of his muscles with fascination. “I assume because our females are only in heat a few times a year. It must increase the chances of conception if both partners can peak multiple times.”

“Huh. Solid idea. Human females are fertile every month, assuming they get enough to eat. Guess our males don’t have to work as hard.”

“Every month? I have not noticed this. Ah - the blockers. Do they interfere with your body’s natural cycle?”

“Yeah. Actually, if you’re curious, there’s no reason I couldn’t have my blocker removed,” Sara said as she stepped onto the shore, picking up the blanket and gingerly using it to dry her hair, being careful of the sand.

“I suppose you’re right. I hadn't thought about that before.”

She noticed the odd tone to Jaal’s words at once. He was thinking something through.

“Do you want to talk about that idea?” She asked, giving him the opening.

“Not tonight,” he said, a smile returning to his face as he stepped out of the water. He embraced her at once, ignoring her squawk of annoyance as he got her all wet again. “We should go to Havarl, when we get a chance. Maybe… soon?”

He looked at her hopefully, and Sara felt her stomach twinge with excitement. Maybe, maybe…

“I’ll see what I can do. Efvra does still want us to hunt down those Roekaar manifestos…”

They cleaned up the remains of their dinner, chairs, table, blanket, cooler, and all, and made their way back to the Tempest. Every now and then Sara made sure to steal a look at the stars, and wondered which ones would gleam above their heads next year.

**Author's Note:**

> For once, this fic will have more than one chapter! Next up, we’ll head to Havarl to hang out with Jaal’s family and watch as Sara and Jaal process the things they realized about their relationship. And we’ll get some funny stories about Jaal and his family that I teased at the end of “Charge!”
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
